February 28

I was fortunate to be at a church planting conference in San Diego this weekend. Our church isn't a new plant; it's a few years old but we were invited to participate by the denomination. It was a great experience, bonding with other church leadership, agreeing and disagreeing with various session speakers, generating ideas on how to do ministry in our local church, and reading Brian McLaren's A New Kind of Christianity on the plane and at night. Needless to say, my thoughts were all over the map during the weekend.

I didn't attempt to connect with the sermon for music and liturgy at all. The confession was inspired by the classical "what I have done, and what I have left undone" confession language. Instead of a time of silent reflection after corporately reading the confession, we paused after each paragraph for silent confession instead.

The music selection was largely random. The holy spirit was at work, though, and the music really ended up dovetailing with sermon in an amazing way.

Instrumentation was just piano, violin and a bit of shaker. Without further ado...

Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone)

Mighty To Save (Hillsong)

Confession

God,

We confess that we have failed this week
to live as you called us to live.

(pause)

We have committed wrongs
against people you created and love,
lashing out in anger,
taking what is not ours,
and looking down upon those
who are different from us.

(pause)

We have failed to live out
your mission in the world,
neglecting the poor,
ignoring those in pain,
seeing the face of Jesus
and looking away.

(pause)

Lord have mercy,
Christ have mercy,
Lord have mercy.

Assurance of Pardon

(from Romans 5)

Consequently, just as the result of one trespass
was condemnation for all men,
so also the result of one act of righteousness
was justification that brings life for all men.

For just as through the disobedience of the one man
the many were made sinners,
so also through the obedience of the one man
the many will be made righteous.

The law was added
so that the trespass might increase.
But where sin increased,
grace increased all the more.

God of Beauty (Solomon's Porch)

All The Way My Savior Leads Me

After sermon: The Benediction (Timothy James Meaney)